Content Analysis and Semiotics Notes

Content analysis: Research tool to see how often a key concept, in film terms, appears in a given medium

1. Quantitative analysis

2. Must be coded

3. Unambiguous

4. Key in the violence debates

Coding violence

Comedic violence - less violent, less impact due to comedy

Sincere violence - more violent, sincere anger in it

Content analysis and violence debate

When looking at the violence debate people can easily jump to conclusions after hearing about a murder.

this ignores

1. The problem of defining the violence that is to be counted

2. Many kinds of different media representation

When looking at a film think about:

1. Its place in the narrative, what is the violence doing for the story

2. How is the audience spoken to (how is the production presenting the person, mise en scene, editing, etc) eg. taken, violence from Liam Neeson never truly seen, edited to seem more violent

3. Casting (who is the person subject to violence and who is committing violence, we want to see characters we hate get hurt)

4. Intertextual reference (Is it a joke? This waters down the impact of the violence. Slapstick is not the same as sincere violence)

5. Historical stage of its genre (Many violent acts were deemed appropriate in history such as executions, someone who is shot in a western film, actor just dies, if someone is shot in a horror, the gore is exaggerated before death)

6. Social context (Where is the film being set, violence may be normal in a mafia, but not a middle class neighbourhood)

Semiotics

AKA Signs and symbols

Main theorist is Roland Barthes, brought forth the idea of signifier (red rose) and signified (love)

Green light: Go

Red light: Stop

These symbols are taught from birth and we give these signs meaning

Semiotics help creating meaning in film through colours (Lighting, props, costume, etc)

Semiotics is a basic form of communication (Gestures, sounds, grunts, images, language)

All communication is a sign and the audience interprets that sign.

'Sign'

1. Icons - Signs that resemble the object to which they refer e.g. A chair is a chair

2. Symbols - Signs that do not resemble the thing that they refer e.g. The Crucifix = Christ

3. Denotation - Naming and describing at the literal level

4. Connotation - Associated thoughts of a particular sign, what a denotation means on a less superficial level

5. Polysemy - A sign with more than one meaning e.g 'what' 'range' are extremely polysemic words

A Ferrari denotes a red car. It's symbol denotes a sports car. It connotes wealth, danger, speed, energy. A picture of a Ferrari is polysemic.

'Codes'

1. Codes are systems of signs put together, usually in sequence, to create meaning

2. Dependant on social and cultural context

3. Encoding - The process of making codes

4. Decoding - The deciphering of these codes

Why is semiotics important?

1. To be able to understand that not all communication gets the desired response

2. Dependant on who you are and where you are from

3. Explains the different readings of the same message

#Revision #Unit12